MILAN — SpaceX successfully launched its fifth Starship vehicle on October 13, achieving a remarkable feat by catching its Super Heavy booster back at the launch site.
The Starship and Super Heavy vehicle took off from SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, at 8:25 a.m. Eastern Time, in what the company labeled Flight 5.
The primary focus of this test was an attempt to recover the Super Heavy booster, which was designed to return to the launch site where it would be cradled by two mechanical arms, often referred to as “chopsticks,” attached to the launch tower. This maneuver required the booster to execute precise boostback and landing burns to ensure it safely returned to the launch pad.
The Super Heavy booster, designated Booster 12, successfully accomplished this task. Approximately seven minutes after liftoff, it descended over the pad, and the two arms securely grasped the top of the booster, just beneath the grid fins.
This successful return and landing of the booster is crucial for SpaceX’s future plans for quick vehicle reflight. The company envisions that a landed booster can be rapidly prepared for its next flight along with a Starship in a timeframe as short as days or even hours.
The success seemed to catch even SpaceX leadership by surprise. Gwynne Shotwell, the company’s president and chief operating officer, expressed her amazement on social media, sharing a video of the landing and saying, “I don’t know what to say!”
Prior to the launch, Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president of build and flight reliability, had expressed a positive outlook regarding the catch attempt, noting the accuracy achieved in the previous flight.
The Starship vehicle, designated Ship 30, followed a suborbital path similar to its previous flight in June, reaching a maximum altitude of 212 kilometers. It appeared to survive reentry better than before, thanks to modifications made to its heat shield. Nearly 66 minutes after liftoff, the vehicle made a powered descent into the Indian Ocean, where it exploded shortly after splashing down, as recovery was not the goal for this flight.
Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO, celebrated the landing, stating on social media that both primary objectives had been achieved.
The launch occurred less than a day after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a revised launch license, which had faced scrutiny in the previous month when SpaceX voiced concerns about delays in receiving the license.
This updated license necessitated modifications to an environmental assessment due to changes in the flight profile. The revised assessment indicated that “no structural damage or significant impacts to third-party structures is anticipated” from sonic booms and that no adverse effects on biological resources in the Gulf of Mexico would result from the changes.
However, the analysis included several conditions regarding the effects of Starship launches at Boca Chica, including the need for field experiments to assess the impacts of gravel plumes on local wildlife and annual certifications of compliance with environmental regulations.
SpaceX’s adherence to environmental laws has been debated, particularly related to the permitting of a water deluge system at the pad, which has led to a fine from the Environmental Protection Agency for operating the system without an EPA permit, despite having state approval.
The revised license allows SpaceX to conduct at least one more launch, known as Flight 6, without needing additional authorization from the FAA, as the agency confirmed that the requested changes were within previously analyzed parameters.